27 October 2011

Jamaica Sodomy Law to Face Its First Legal Challenge

The international advocacy organization AIDS-Free World will file the first-ever legal challenge to Jamaica's sodomy laws, reports Care2. Although rarely enforced, the mandates imprisonment of "up to ten years ... for the abominable crime of buggery."

The suit will argue that "by criminalizing homosexuality, Jamaica is in violation of international human rights laws" and the law "feeds a homophobic society in which gays and lesbians are harassed, mocked, vilified, beaten and killed simply because of their sexual orientation."

The group has submitted a petition at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on behalf of two Jamaican gay men whose names are being withheld to protect their safety.

Representing the petitioners will be a very high-powered legal team including Lord Anthony Gifford, who practices in both Jamaica and the UK and was counsel on a similar and successful case before the European Court of Human Rights, and pro bono attorneys from the US firm Thompson Hine and the Law Center at Nova Southeastern University.

Although the Jamaican so-called “anti-sodomy law” is not enforced, the argument is that it nevertheless casts a destructive pall over the lives of gay Jamaicans.... It encourages vigilante justice by private citizens, most of whom believe that the “anti-sodomy” law grants them permission to commit acts of violence against sexual minorities.

Driven underground, many fear that seeking an HIV test will brand them as homosexual, and therefore criminal. The national prevalence of HIV is more than 30 percent among men who have sex with men, compared to a rate of 1.6 percent in the general population. The IACHR petition establishes clear ties between the country’s active promotion of discrimination and its AIDS epidemic.

The move comes as sodomy laws in several Caribbean nations are being challenged. A similar legal challenge is underway in Belize. And earlier this month, Antigua and Barbuda announced that it would not amend its "buggery" laws, despite growing international pressure from the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

The news comes only the eve of the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia. British, Canadian and Australian leaders are expected to ask African and Asian nations to decriminalize same-sex relations in an effort to fight rampant HIV rates across the global south.

Comments

Good luck to this organization in their suit. Despite having a great time on my trips to Jamaica, I've vowed never to return or spend a dime supporting the country as long as their laws are so rabidly homophobic. I'm sure it will take time for the culture to change, but it begins with the leadership. If you don't want gays, you don't want my gay money. I'd urge other readers to do the same. There are plenty more welcoming, or at least tolerant Caribbean islands for my tourist dollars. Mmmm Dominicans...

"The news comes only the eve of the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia. British, Canadian and Australian leaders are expected to ask African and Asian nations to decriminalize same-sex relations in an effort to fight rampant HIV rates across the global south."

Rod also mentioned CHOGM several times this week re Zimbabwe. He's also been talking about extensively on Twitter and Facebook.